The Connection
by Calico45
Summary: It was a simple solution really. "Talent breeds talent, after all." But even if that is true, the older siblings of the kidnapped will not stay quiet. When they finally meet up again what will the older siblings do? Will they choose their siblings or the world? And who do the younger siblings choose in this Pokémon world?
1. Prologue

The Connection

Prologue

"It only makes sense."

It was a simple statement, yet a powerful way to end the speech. The entire audience that had waited with a plethora of words on their tongues could hardly make a sound as the speaker settled once more into his chair. Said speaker was not especially beautiful, charismatic, or clever; if anything, he was a little too average in every regard to be normal. Of course, the darkness of the meeting room did not allow the features of _anyone_ to be distinguished well. The truthfulness of his words needed nothing more to be persuasive. It did only make sense.

Finally, one of the audience of five wrestled the scattered letters into words, and those words into sentences, "It is so simple, it is hard to believe… Can we really trust it enough to risk it all?"

Now all eyes were on the new speaker, once more with bated breath as the average man rested his sights on the table, "Of course. You said it yourself, it is so simple. Nature is typically so; leave it to mankind to overthink everything."

"It is only simple in theory!" screeched another, braver, bystander, "We are really risking it all. Kidnapping children, especially ones from prominent families, is not simple!"

The average man turned to his new target, "I guess you are right, but the _hard_ part is simple. It will all be worth it because talent breeds talent. These families: Kirkland, Bonnefey, Vargas, Beilschmidt, Braginski, and Wang, breed talent. Their youngest members will do the job."

A thick silence descended upon the room once more, crushing its members with the weight of mountains. Here they were discussing kidnapping like another business proposal—but that is exactly what it was. They needed this to work like they needed to breathe. Everyone knew it and arguing was only delaying the inevitable. As much as they all hated it, this was their only option.

"Say it does not work," starts the man that had been the first to recover his tongue after the speech, "Or even if it does—we ruin their lives. They either die or are cursed until death. Heavens know how painful it is…"

The average man actually pauses at this, showing the first signs of humanity since the meeting began, "Yes, but millions of others suffer, including them, if they do not. All I can say is that they will be heroes to me, and all I can ask is that they be heroes to you, too, because we have no other options. Gentlemen, we are at the end of the road. We need the protection of our deities for our regions and world, and no ordinary man can call them out. I believe these bloodlines hold the key to that."

The average man pulls out six manila folders and tosses them across the round table, each with the name of a mentioned family imprinted in bold on the side, "I will start with the upstarts: the Wangs. Yao Wang is a fighting type specialist in the shared Kanto and Johto elite four. That may not be impressive all on its own, but he resurrected his family from the ashes of his parents' deaths and poverty all on his own. He is not to be trifled with, and I believe his younger brother, Kiku, holds that same potential."

"Now the Beilschmidts," he begins again, motioning to another folder that was beginning to be passed around, "They have a history steeped in the military of the Johto region since its founding, traceable all the way back to an ancestor that was regarded as a hero. Legend has it that he had a legendary Pokémon as a partner, how convenient? In modern times there are three branches of this family; however, we are focused on the main branch. Gilbert Beilschmidt is the fire type specialist of the shared Johto and Kanto elite four. His little brother Ludwig is the one we are focused on."

Another folder found its way into the many hands around the table, "The Bonnefey family is next. Although they have been namely known for their coordinators, their battling prowess is nothing to be looked down upon. They have a right to be considered as much as anyone else. That being said, Francis Bonnefey, is the top coordinator in Kanto at this moment. His little brother, Matthew, should do nicely."

A noticeably thicker folder now made its way around the table, "The Braginskis, now. I know very well that their name precedes them from the time of 'General Winter,' but their newest generation has not had much talent in any of the three branches. That being said, my biggest hope is Ivan, from the main branch. After that, I would say Emil, from the Northern Branch family. However, we will also be taking Feliks and Toris from the Sourthern branch family."

"The Vargis family, a favorite of all of yours I noticed, is next. This family is like the Beilschmidts, only in Kanto. In fact, both their main ancestors were rumored rivals and have several legends about them. Of course, it is well known that in its golden age, the Vargas family was the strongest in both Johto and Kanto. In recent years the family has gotten back some of its vigor, but after the family's fall it has never been the same. Antonio Vargas is grass type specialist of the shared Kanto and Johto elite four. Our targets will be his younger twin brothers, Lovino and Feliciano."

Down to the last folder, the average man now had a smirk on his face, "This family needs no introduction. It boasts the newest champion and ghost type specialist of the shared Johto and Kanto elite four, Allistor and Arthur Kirkland. This family is incredibly large, so you might be expecting us to take several, but I think one is more than enough. My personal favorite, Alfred, will be our target. He is the closest in age to all the chosen others, and I just get a vibe from him. Of course, I will only risk that on my part. So, gentlemen, are we all in agreement?"

The meeting room grew tense once more, but, slowly, the crowd started nodding, one after the other. It was decided. These children, these innocent and naïve beings, were going to be forced to trials they could previously only dream of and there was no other option. It did little to make anyone in that room feel better about the graveness of the situation, but the average man managed a sincere smile as he stroked one of the folders.

"Well then, Alfred, you will get your adventure, I swear." he whispered.


	2. Chapter 1

The Connection

Chapter 1, Meeting

Rhythmic clicks of shoe heels resonated throughout the empty shell of a room as one of eight within paced about. These clicks were further accented with echoes as they bounced off of the metal walls. This place was supposed to be a lab, but felt more like a prison. From recent experience, none of the eight was beginning to the think there was much difference between the two, though.

"Where are they?!" the pacing man cried, finally coming to a halt to throw his hands in the air from their previously crossed position.

"Arthur, be patient." chided one of his sitting audience, one of the only ones really in the right mind to speak with him at the moment, which earned him a stern, emerald glare.

"I refuse! I have been patient for _three years_, now. We all have! I think it is about time we get a little impatient, hm?" Arthur hissed, running his fingers through his short, choppy blond hair, "Three long years, Francis…"

"It has not been easy for anyone, not just ye." countered another seated man, this one with the most muscular frame of all the eight, most of which being rather on the thin side.

He, too, was met with a glare, but he had a pair of acidic emeralds to match it perfectly, unlike the dark blue orbs of Francis. The two broke into a quick battle of wills in their little stare down. This kind of thing was nothing new between them, being brothers and all. It was Arthur who was unable to maintain the stare, which caused a small smile to form on the auburn haired man's face.

"Well thank you, Allistor!" Arthur bit out before swiftly returning to his pacing.

Arthur continued his march with occasional scowls sent to Allistor's and Francis's side of the rectangular room before he froze at the sound of sniveling. On the side right across from Allistor and Francis sat the only girl in the room with two men, one on each side, trying to comfort her. It was not just Arthur's attention drawn, but the whole room now had eyes on her.

"Sofia, whatever is that matter?" Arthur asked as softly as he could.

He had a pretty good idea, they all did, but it was still the polite thing to ask. Arthur took a few more steps forward, all eyes on him now as he tried to coax the crying girl into speaking her troubles. He looked to both of the men on her sides and waited for nods of approval before he crouched down, trying to get her attention.

"Speak to me." he coaxed at last.

The older girl spoke between tears, but spoke nevertheless, "I know we have all thought about it, but this is our fault, da? If not for General Winter's legacy and my incompetence then Ivan, Toris, Feliks, and Emil would never have gone through this."

At once everyone was caught on resurfacing lumps in their throats. Admittedly, they had all gone through what she was doing now, but seeing it happen in front of them and hearing the words out of someone else's mouth made it all the more real and _painful_.

Arthur could barely swallow it down to speak, "There was nothing you could do, Sofia."

"It was on my shoulders…" growled the man with platinum blond hair, similar to Sofia's, to her right, a man Arthur knew very well from times spent travelling together.

"Lukas, it was all of our jobs as the older siblings of the Braginski family." insisted Sofia, "The blame is all of ours, so we share it."

No one could respond to this, Sofia noted, so she gathered a bit of courage and showed strength the others had not been expecting, "It is the same with all of us. We failed to protect them, so we share the blame. No one person could have done anymore."

She cast her gaze on everyone expectantly, but it was in vain. Only Francis freely nodded back to her, while the others were caught in thought. It was like she had expected, they all blamed themselves alone. She felt the weight of her guilt as well, but was not nearly unrealistic enough to believe it was _all_ her fault. If everyone tried to take all of the blame onto themselves then none of it would be left for the actual perpetrators which they were at the mercy of now, in the small, cold room.

"At least we get them back, aru." spoke the black haired man on Sofia's left, rousing from his thoughts, "I do not know what I would do if we did not."

"Yao is right," came the usually cheerful voice from the center wall in between the two sides of people, "We actually get them back. I cannot wait to see my little brothers. The twins are as cute as ever I bet."

The albino man beside the one that spoke scoffed at this, "It has been three years, Antonio! Even I, the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, know that we will probably not recognize any of them."

Antonio frowned at him in response, a soft sea green gaze meeting shockingly red eyes, "You make it sound like ten years, Gil. I am sure I will recognize Lovino and Feliciano just fine, the same with you and Ludwig. Everybody else, too! Lukas will recognize Emil, Toris, and Feliks, Sofia will with Ivan, Francis with Matthew, and Arthur and Allistor with Alfred."

"But they will be different." Francis assured on Gilbert's behalf, with a shrug, "I will still love my two half-brothers regardless, but they will be different."

Gilbert stared blankly at his close friend, Francis, for a moment, before he stole a glance at his other friend, Antonio, "What is he talking—Oh yeah! I forget that your dad had an affair with that Kirkland woman every now and again. Now that I think about it, Alfred and Matthew really are twins, aren't they? They look like the same person but act so different that it is easy to forget."

By now both emerald stares were burning holes in the albino, but Arthur's snap broke loose first, "My mother is not 'that Kirkland woman!' She deserves more respect than that."

"And if ye ever talk about our mother again, I will beat you so badly that you will be more than happy to resign from the elite four." added Allistor, leaking the fierce aura of a battle hungry champion.

That was all it took to kill the tense conversation as the room faded back into silence—except for the clicks of Arthur's pacing. Even with the annoying sound, none of them were roused from their thoughts. All the returned children would be different, would they not? They would be physically as well as mentally changed. All of them had endured three years with their kidnappers, after all. Three years was a long time. It had seemed especially long to the eight in the room as they searched desperately for their siblings. For the entire first year none of them had uncovered anything. It was only the second year that they caught a break by hearing rumors about children matching the Vargis twins' appearances being seen all throughout the Johto region. From there they were led on a long, winding path that eventually led to this cold, little room in the middle of a Pokémon laboratory.

On that path they learned exactly what happened to their siblings, and, worse yet, why. Their kid siblings were kidnapped to practically be sacrifices. It was a job no one else was willing to do, because failure could mean anything, including death. They were expected to connect to the legendary Pokémon that guarded all of the regions and revive their watch. It was assumed that since they were from talented families that they would have the talent themselves for the task. It was a miracle that none of them died from the expectations placed on them from their families' prowess. For the task the legendary artifacts said to awaken the beasts were gathered and exposed to the children. Not one of the scientists had expected for their bodies to _absorb_ the artifacts, but apparently that is how it worked, for they suddenly started to show the abilities of their connected legendary beast. As soon as they had they were all shipped off to the respective regions of their connected partners, and that is partially why it took so long for them to all be able to see each other. The other reasons were along the lines of the scientists working on the project not wanting it stopped and insisting that they remain in their respective regions. They also claimed to be monitoring their health for any kind of strain and watching them carefully because of the unpredictability of the artifacts' effects on their bodies, but all of the eight were sick of excuses by then. It took little more for them to push hard enough to finally be able to see their siblings, and for that very reason they waited anxiously for the door across from Gilbert and Antonio to swing open and alert them to all of their siblings' safe arrival.

"We should 'ave expected this when we arrived so early." Francis chuckled humorlessly, gesturing towards the large, metal door, "Of course they would not be punctual on this, they do not want us to see them, and it is not even time that we were supposed to be 'ere yet."

Arthur gritted his teeth, once more stopping, but this time in front of the door so he could stare intently at it. Half of him wanted to snap a Francis for voicing what all of them already knew, but that is what they had pretty much done all day in that room. It was about time they got out already. The entire situation was driving everyone to the very edges of sanity.

"I say we remind them that we are here." he muttered, reaching for the door while receiving cries of agreement from Gilbert, Lukas, and Yao.

"Sorry for the intrusion—Oh! Mr. Kirkland, I did not see you there."

Arthur stared blankly at what he could only assume was a lab assistant before him, with the door halfway open as if he were planning to enter. The rest followed suit, with all eyes now on the man in a white lab coat. As if sensing that he would not get a response, this man collected himself further and finally opened the door all of the way before entering the room.

"It seems as though the flight from Unova got here earlier than expected." he explained, clipboard of some sort in hand, "Everyone has gathered, so if it is alright with you all we can start early."

It took a moment for all the words to sink in before Arthur was nodding furiously and all the others had gathered around him and the lab assistant. The main in the coat had not been expecting the pause or sudden spring to action, so he was a little stunned, but gestured to be followed nonetheless.

"C-come this way then." he stated, voice a little shaky as started guiding the eight through the twists and turns of the cold, metal laboratory halls.

One thing that had been better in the rectangular room had been the lighting, because the darkness of the halls made it difficult for the eight to not run into one another. It made them slightly wonder how the man in front knew where he was going and if they were lost from him if they could manage such a feat. The thought even crept up on them that this whole thing could be a trap to rid the scientists of their nuisances. At the moment, it seemed like the best way to get rid of them, and the thought became even more convincing with every second spent maneuvering the hallways—and there were a lot of seconds. Just when the eight were getting beyond paranoid and were about to say something they saw a light at the end of the dark hallway.

"They are waiting for you in the main lobby." the assistant assured, gesturing to the room exuding light from an open archway.

The eight needed no further convincing as they rushed through the opening and were blinded by the brightness of the electric light. It took a little time for their eyes to adjust, but when they did they were sure their eyes were playing tricks on them. Little did Gilbert know how right he had been back in the rectangular waiting room. Before them stood ten grown men, looking hardly anything like they did in their boyish youth merely three years prior. Puberty was apparently thorough, though kind, to the boys. The most astonishing thing about them all was their new heights. Arthur was even pretty sure he was now the shortest in the room though he remembered his little half-brothers only coming up to his chest the last time he saw them. It may have been the changes or even the thought that it was all a dream and when they woke up their siblings would still be gone, but none of the eight could muster up the courage to break the silence. Of course, that did not hold true for the siblings.

"Hey, aren't you going to at least say you missed us? It has been three years." questioned a tall blond with an energetic fire burning in his azure eyes, "Surely you have something to say, right Artie?"

"Al, that is rude!" scolded his twin with slightly longer hair and almost violet eyes, "Sorry, he has not changed that much on the inside."

And that was all Arthur could take until he barreled into Alfred with all his might. The little boy that had been missing for three entire years was finally in front of him. He could finally take him back home.

"You git, do you know just how worried I was?!" cried Arthur, crushing the taller blond firmly in his grasp, "I even asked _Allistor_ for help and we could not find you. I thought I would never see you again."

"And what is so wrong about asking me!?" the auburn haired sibling barked, "I am the champion, the person you should ask first."

That was all it took for the barrier between the two sides to break, propelling the remaining seven charging forth into the crowd that awaited them. Each elder sibling could not help but inspect each of the younger ones on site for any changes they had missed, but especially for injuries. They were still kidnapping victims after all. Before any of these quick inspections were finished, they were interrupted, however.

"Pardon my intrusion, but I feel I must say this now," said an approaching man in another white lab coat, but with other similar people that looked to be assistants flocking around him, "This is as close as you will get to ending our program."


End file.
